This blog has been set up to further the cause of compassion for Asylum Seekers.
We will post letters that have been sent to politicians, building up the pressure to provide compassionate support to all refugees in Australia and anywhere where people have been sent by the Australian Government.
Send your letter and any reply to our email address and we will post it on the site
Any other information of use will also be posted. For Facebook page click on "contact us" tab below.

Our next roadside
demonstration is this Thursday 9th November from 2.30 pm until
4.00 pm.

You will
find us by the side of the Pacific Highway in Coffs Harbour, opposite the Base
hospital. This
surely should be our biggest demo of the year, given the appalling events
on Manus Island in recent days. Now is the time to send the strongest message
possible that this cruelty must be brought to an end without further
foot-dragging on the part of the Coalition government, with the tacit support
of the Labor opposition. Please make an effort to join us for a while to add
your voice to the calls for our government to finally act with humanity and
principle. We have lots of banners and placards to share.

Next Market :
Bellingen Community Market: Saturday 18th November

Our next market stall
will be at the Bellingen market on Saturday 18th November from 9.00
am until 1.30 pm. If you can help out for a while – handing out leaflets,
chatting to market-goers, persuading people to sign our petition, and selling
our merchandise – then please let Mike know by emailing him at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.

Meeting and social
get-together: Sunday 3rd December from 10.30 am

We are planning
an end-of-year meeting and social gathering on Sunday 3rd December at
our usual venue : 39,
Rogers Drive, Valla Beach. We’ll meet at 10.30 to review what we have done
and achieved in 2017 and share our thoughts about activities for 2018. The
meeting will be followed by lunch on the back deck, which will give everyone
the chance to relax and to enjoy one another’s company. It does not matter at
all if you have not been engaged with our activities to date. Just come along,
meet with a lot of like-minded people and enjoy the occasion. You will
definitely not be pressured to take on any responsibilities! It would be
appreciated if you could bring a plate to share. Please put the date in your
diary and let Mike know that you plan to come along by emailing him at : mandm.griffin2@bigpond.com.

Manus Island
crisis

The dire situation
faced by the men detained on Manus island has finally hit the news headlines in
recent days, with images of men protesting peacefully and digging frantically
to find water inside the detention centre. They have now been without supplies of
food, water, medication and power for a week. Locals attempting to bring them
provisions have been turned away.

The Australian
government’s hard-line stance has been widely condemned, with the UNHCR
demanding that food, water and health services be restored immediately in the
face of the “unfolding humanitarian emergency”. UNHCR spokesperson Rupert
Colville stated: “We have serious concerns about the welfare, safety and
wellbeing of the roughly 600 men who remain in the accommodation compound, who
are too frightened to leave.” Our government has an obligation under
international human rights law and the 1951 Refugee Convention to protect these
men from harm. Rupert Colville repeated previous UN concerns about Australia’s
offshore processing centres, saying that they “are unsustainable, inhumane and
contrary to Australia’s human rights obligations”.

Minister Dutton, who
is not a regular visitor to Manus Island, but who has a long history of
attempting to mislead the Australian public, doesn’t see it that way. On
the other hand, Senator Nick McKim , who has been on Manus for the past week,
together with Amnesty, Human Rights Watch and UNHCR, who have all visited and
reported on the detention centre in recent times, tell it how it is. It is
dire! These people and organisations have all reached the same conclusion: that
these men must be brought to Australia for processing and, in the majority of
cases, for resettlement in Australia or other third countries which can offer
them a safe haven. And surely that must include New Zealand!

Please maintain the
rage and keep pressing the case for bringing the men here. Points to make
include:

this is clearly a politically motivated and
extreme move, and shames us as Australians.

It is cruel and unnecessary and victimises
some of the most vulnerable people in the world.

Australia has a moral and legal responsibility
to those fleeing torture and death, whatever their mode of arrival in
Australia.

this decision is being widely condemned as a
policy that is morally reprehensible and breaches our international
obligations.